When it comes to choosing the best food for our dogs, we take a lot into consideration. If they have allergies, our choices are often much more limited. But for the average owner with the healthy dog, we’re always desperately trying to maintain optimal nutrition and health. Recently, we’ve been warned so often about all of the terrible ingredients we should avoid. Some are even known carcinogens. So what exactly is good for our dogs? When looking through the ingredient list, you’ve got to have an idea of what a good ingredient is. Need help? Check out our list here!
#1 – Meat Protein
Whole meats are the most important part of your dog’s diet. Dogs are omnivores, but the base of their diet is meat-based protein. You’ve been advised against meat meals and meat by-products, but whole meat is perfect. Anytime you see chicken, beef, pork, turkey, venison, or any other whole animal product in the ingredient list, you’re in the clear. This should be the first ingredient (or the first few ingredients if there is more than one protein source), meaning it’s the most prominent in the food and the basis of the diet.
#2 – Essential Fatty Acids
Dogs need fat to be healthy, and there are better ways to get this fat into their diets than others. When you see ingredients like lard and beef tallow, you know you’re getting low quality, nasty fats. But essential fatty acids, such as the omegas found in salmon oil, flaxseed oil, or pork or chicken fat, are great, nutritious ingredients.
#3 – Sweet Potatoes & Peas
Dogs really don’t need any added carbohydrates, but when feeding commercial foods they are sometimes necessary to maintain the consistency. That said, there are some sources of carbohydrates that are beneficial to our dogs. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of nutrients and can even help with gastrointestinal upset in our dogs. Peas contain plenty of essential vitamins and minerals as well. We do recommend feeding grain-free foods, and these two ingredients are great at taking up the space used by unhealthy grain fillers such as corn, wheat, and soy.
#4 – Fruits & Vegetables
A bit of fruit certainly won’t hurt a dog, and it can actually benefit them. Ask many raw feeders why they add fruits and vegetables to their dogs’ meals. You’ll discover that many do it to mimic a prey animal’s stomach contents. It sounds gross, but remember that this is why dogs are considered omnivores. They ingest whatever their prey eats. When it comes to chicken and beef, you may be thinking corn and grain. Since this is not ideal, look for dog foods that include fresh fruits and green vegetables, such as apples, alfalfa, cranberries, and pumpkin.
#5 – Organic Ingredients
Organic ingredients are generally better, especially when it comes to protein sources. While we can’t always find a 100% organic dog food that’s reasonably priced, it’s important to try and find organic ingredients when you can. Keep in mind, however, that the organic version of bad ingredients really isn’t much better. For example, we still want to avoid organic corn and soy, but should probably choose organic chicken over non-organic chicken. There is a small benefit to feeding your dog organic food, just as there is for you to eat it.
Toledo, United States.
